A new monument at OSU pays tribute to two iconic Cowboys

STILLWATER, Okla. (KFOR) — Meeting his hero was a big deal for 5-year-old Harold Holden, after winning first prize in the Enid Cherokee Strip Days Parade in 1945.

No one could have predicted what those moments between Frank 'Pistol Pete' Eaton and the future artist would turn into nearly 80 years later.

On a Friday afternoon in September, 2024, Holden's friends and family, along with Pistol Pete's, and re-Petes in the form of the Oklahoma State University mascot, came together to celebrate the spark created in a boy's imagination.

Holden became a celebrated western artist, a painter and sculptor whose monuments already grace 3 other spots on the OSU campus.

Harold was working on a huge likeness of Eaton when he passed away in December of '23.

We watched the next spring as two artist friends finished Holden's work, and supervised as the clay made its way to a bronze foundry.

Fellow sculptor John Rule told us in March, "We want to leave as much of what 'H' did as we can."

Unveiled, people close to both men agreed.

This huge, statue of Eaton sitting a little cockeyed in the saddle, with a faraway look in his eye, manages to capture both cowboys perfectly.

"It's great to see it come to fruition," says Rule at the unveiling ceremony.

Harold's widow Edna Mae Holden said this day was long in coming.

"This is the piece he wanted to do longer than any of the rest of them," she said, "so it's been a good bookend."

Frank Eaton's great-grandson David Case, who bears more than a passing resemblance to 'Pete' says his family couldn't be happier either.

"Fantastic," he gushed. "This is the coolest thing that anyone could ever do for any family."

Edna Mae told the audience Harold would have been nervous about appearing at an event like the unveiling, and might have needed a stiff drink to get him through.

"He, of course, would be fretting about having to talk in front of an audience, and would probably need to make a little detour to 'Crown Town' (Crown Royal whiskey was a favorite of his) to have gotten up here in the first place."

Neither cowboy could be here to see it, but a whole bunch of Cowboys are glad to have a permanent reminder of their undying spirit.

Harold Holden's sculpture of 'Pistol Pete' is located on the corner of Duck and McElroy in Stillwater just beyond the outfield at the Cowgirl Softball stadium.